Fruit tree against West facing house wall

[Bumblingbroccoli]

Hi there I'm new to this forum though have been gardening with limited success for a while. My question is can I grow a fruit tree as a fan against the West facing gable wall of my house. It's a large wall so plenty of room but a) is it ok to grow fruit trees against your house wall if they are trained b) if so what fruit would you recommend I go for? C) if not a fruit tree what would be good to climb up it?

We live in Southern England....

[nickdub]

Sounds like a perfect site for a fan or espalier fruit tree - if it was mine I'd go for either a plum or a cherry, though a pear would also work well.

You've got a bit of time to decide on how to proceed, as its best to buy top fruit like this is in the winter, as a larger and cheaper selection of bare rooted plants is available then.

Whatever you decide to plant a couple of suggestions for jobs to do now :-

1) Prepare a planting hole at least 3' away from the base of the wall. by digging down 2' taking out the subsoil all together and breaking up the bottom with a fork then gradually refill with a mix of top soil and organic matter like lawn mowings or compost. ( the reason its away from the base is that the soil near a wall is usually very dry)
2) drill the wall at 3, 6, 9 etc foot horizontal levels and screw in vine eyes every few feet (you may need raw-plugs) so you can run horizontal wires - I'd use good quality galvanized stuff so it won't rust.

If you've got further queries on what variety to go for, root-stock or whatever please post again and I'll try to advise.

Happy Gardening :-)

[Bumblingbroccoli]

Thanks so much. We can get a bit of wind as we are on the corner of 2 roads so do you think the house wall will mitigate that?

And of those fruit would you favour one over the others? Am I right that plums need to be fans rather than espaliers? What about cherries? Would an apricot, peach or nectarines be out of the question?

[Scarlet]

Ive lost a peach and a nectarine to peach leaf curl. It's very difficult to avoid unless you are growing undercover. So if you are spending a lot of time on training/putting the wires up I would choose something else.
Info on it here
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=232

[nickdub]

Thanks so much. We can get a bit of wind as we are on the corner of 2 roads so do you think the house wall will mitigate that?

And of those fruit would you favour one over the others? Am I right that plums need to be fans rather than espaliers? What about cherries? Would an apricot, peach or nectarines be out of the question?

You're very welcome.

Yes a Plum would need to be fan trained and, as has been said, Peaches or Nectarines can be a bit disappointing. If I was choosing for myself I'd probably go for a Plum - Oulin's Gage is one good one. Of course its possible to grow more than one variety on the same roots, if you fancy doing a bit of budding and can get some suitable scions but keeping the growth balanced is likely to be a challenge.

[Bumblingbroccoli]

Great I love plums. I love games but also considering mirabelle as I am v keen on jam...

Would that be an option?

And would a peach or nectarine work in a container?

[veggiechicken]

I'm going to say - don't do it without considering how it will affect the maintenance of your house.
I have freestanding camellias at the front of my house and they need to be cut back before the house can be painted or the gutters cleaned. If they were attached to the wall it would be even more of a problem.

[nickdub]

Great I love plums. I love games but also considering mirabelle as I am v keen on jam...

Would that be an option?

And would a peach or nectarine work in a container?

Not sure about mirabelle - not one I've grown.

You can grow a peach or nectarine in a container successfully, particularity if you can move it in to some covered place such as a poly-runnel in the Spring. The tree needs to be on dwarfing stock and it will mean a v large container eventually which may need to be put on rollers or something similar to move it.